Back pay is generally awarded to successful Title VII Plaintiffs. Trial courts have broad discretion in determining the amount of the award, but the award should be measured by the difference between what the employee would have earned had the wrongful conduct not occurred measured from a period beginning with the termination until trial judgment.

In the instant case, the trial court calculated back pay guided by four considerations:

• 1) the time period for which back pay should be awarded;
• 2) the appropriate salary and fringe benefit rates for that period;
• 3) whether Xerox is entitled to an offset for amounts paid to Plaintiff as disability pay; and
• 4) the appropriate rates of prejudgment and post judgment interest.

See Hylind, Case No. PJM 03-116, at *3. Both parties accepted the fact that Xerox's conduct caused Plaintiff's termination and her inability to work in 1995. Thus, there was no question that the back pay calculations should have started in 1995, but the parties disagreed about how long the back pay should be awarded. Plaintiff contended that she was entitled to back pay from the time she stopped working in 1995 until present because she is permanently disabled. Xerox, on the other hand, argued that Plaintiff returned to her pre-incident ability to work in 1999. Accordingly, she was only entitled to back pay for four (4) years.

Both Plaintiff and Xerox offered medical expert testimony regarding the permanency of Plaintiff's disability. Based on the testimony presented, the Court determined that the period of back pay should have been eight (8) years. Accordingly, the Court awarded back pay from 1995 until 2002.